De Koningshoeven Brewery
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| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1884 |
| Headquarters | Berkel-Enschot, Netherlands |
| Products | Beer |
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Production output
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145,000 hL |
| Website | www |
De Koningshoeven Brewery (Brouwerij de Koningshoeven) is a Dutch Trappist brewery founded in 1884 within the walls of Koningshoeven Abbey (Abdij Onze Lieve Vrouw van Koningshoeven) in Berkel-Enschot (near Tilburg).
In 1884, the abbey opened a brewery inside the monastery in order to finance the monastery and contribute to charitable causes. Despite this goal, the brewery was run as a commercial enterprise. The abbey owned several bars in the area and produced lager under its own "Trappist" brand as well as contract brewing for several private labels. In 1969, the abbey licensed the brewing operations to the Artois Brewery (now InBev). In 1980 the deal with Artois ended, and the monks went back to brewing themselves, this time a top fermented beer which had only been made in limited quantities since the 1950s. Over time the brewery introduced more varieties, first with Dubbel and Tripel in 1987, then in 1992 they introduced Blond. Between 1993 and 2000, the brewery also marketed a brand called Enkel. The brewery also produces the world's only Trappist witbier. The brewery also used to produce the Jopen beer.
The brewery started exporting in 1985, and in 1989 the brewery was modernised.
From 1980 until 1999, the brewery was largely run by the monks. Due to the difficulty of the ageing monks continuing to operate the brewery, a limited liability company was set up as a subsidiary of the large commercial brewer, Bavaria. In 1999 the new company began to take over day-to-day operations, renting the buildings and equipment from the abbey.
As a result of this agreement, a dispute arose with the International Trappist Association, the body that governs the labelling of goods as Trappist. They claimed that this new method of operation was against the regulations that permitted the beer to display the Authentic Trappist Product logo. Whilst the beer continued to be brewed within the abbey walls, the arrangement with Bavaria was felt to be too commercialised. As a result, the brewery withdrew their use of the logo on 1 December 1999. However, the brewery continued to label the beer as Trappistenbier.
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Wikipedia